16 August, 2010

The VO Compact Double cranks are here. But they are not as we specified. You may remember that we made a prototype that was chrome plated aluminum alloy. While it looked great and performed perfectly, most folks preferred a polished alloy finish, as on the triple and polyvalent cranks. Unfortunately, the change in specifications did not reach the factory and we have a shipment of chrome plated doubles.

We've decided to sell these at a big discount. The price was to be $115, but this batch is $65 while they last.

The factory still has many more chrome plated VO crank arms. Those will be assembled with polished alloy rings and priced normally. This winter we will have regular polished arms and rings. Again, we don't know of any problems or issues with the chrome cranks, they are simply not what we wanted. And they do look pretty cool.

Rust...no. Oxidize, yes. and they'll look a bit ratty anywhere that the chrome peels off. Of course, that's true of any chromed metal....it's just that chroming is rarely used anywhere that there will be metal-on-metal contact...especially the kind of rough metal-on-metal contact that happens where a chain meets a chainring.Allan Pollock

Chrome is a more durable and expensive finish. That's why it's used in the bores and bearing of some high performance petrol engines. It's also used on some cassette and freewheel cogs. It is so hard that it ruins drill bits and files when you modify chrome parts.

The low price of these cranks does not reflect any lower quality or lower durability. I simply wanted to blow out stuff that's not in our long term plans and do something nice for our customers. VO has never been about "maximizing profit".

If, a few years down the road, you want to replace the rings, you'll still probably be ahead on price.